Anyone Politically Active?
 

Curious if anyone here, or a family member, has gotten involved in politics.

About three years ago, I started leading an effort to designate my neighborhood a historic district. That turned into a 3 year, 200 volunteer, 20,000 person hour, $70K project, but we succeeded. Because everything in Portland is politicized and this particular effort got caught up with zoning, housing, and equity issues, I ended up getting involved with city officials, state legislators, and non-profit groups. I built webpages, email lists, organized volunteers for fundraising and canvassing and events, coordinated email and testimony at different hearings, and started leading a weekly meeting of activists and advocates, as well as working with other advocates.

Some people have been asking me to run for an elected office at the city council level. Others have been asking for my involvement in building a more formal structure for some of the advocacy, to and including starting a 501c4 and associated PAC.

I'm far from reaching any decisions, but wanted to see what experiences folks here have had. Anyone run for office, start or run an advocacy group, start a 501c4 or similar?

My former boss, Tom was a typical A-personality, business owner. He got into private airplanes as a hobby and wanted to find a hangar for his airplane at a local airport that had no hangars to rent. That evolved into a multi year project to get approval from the airport trust, and then a contractor to build hangars, and the entire project was done as a condo type setup, and each person owned their hangar. It has added on several times.

Several people told him to get into city politics and go "on the other side" from just a business owner. Tom would have been a great politician, until some other politician made some stupid decision or comment, and and Tom spoke his mind and called the person an idiot. He had no tolerance for stupidity, and government is rife with incompetence and stupidity.

So to answer your question, I have no political experience, but I have seen the process close up and personal as a press photographer. If you can smile and kiss babies and tell idiots what they want to hear and lie like a rug, by all means become a politician.

So you were a community organizer. I've heard some of them can really move up the ladder.

I was a board member of a taxpayer group...Oregon Taxpayers United. During those days, I learned well just how corrupt, slimy, and full of dirty tricks the political power structure of this state is. Crusaders running for political office here end up either being crucified or assimilated.

I was asked to run for a school board. But knowing all to well what the political arm of the Teacher's Union has done and can do to someone not in lockstep with them, I declined.

Congratulations on your success. Well done.

I was an appointed official for a small town in Maryland many, many years ago...like you I worked to get what I thought were needed projects completed for the town and built a good reputation that was the reason I was appointed..

I was on the town council for almost two years and mostly enjoyed the experience. What I had a problem with, and you may as well, was dealing with the mundane. The projects that attracted me to advocacy were near and dear to my heart...the disputes over fence lines and where mailboxes could/should be put less so.

I have also been the Treasurer on local and state political campaigns. The last time eight years ago. Easy work for me, and I enjoyed it. However, running for office, any office, is a grind and a test of your gag reflex at times.

I could not have done what the folks I volunteered for had to do to get elected. It may be very different in your part of the world but Tip O'Neill was right.

It seems to me you should work on "building a more formal structure for some of the advocacy, to and including starting a 501c4 and associated PAC"...mainly because that is what seemed to get you involved and excited. That and no fund raisers!

Again, I salute your success and commitment.

I'm expecting a KEG party executive position with James' big announcement....glad ya reminded me. Sorry John....like yer threads....I'll shut up now :)

A: NEVAR

Edited: Like Paul(s)....John's talents should not be wasted with "stuff" ;)

You all rock!

My wife ran for mayor in the last election because of our dealings with town council over air bnb's.
They were idiots on their own agenda and she thought she could change things.
Thank god she lost (11% of the vote) because I can not get far enough away from those morons.

The only political thread that isn't political.

Do it! I think you'd be great at so many positions in PDX politics. City Council or PBOT would be lucky to have someone of your intellect, life experience and demeanor.

Before I moved a while ago, I hung out at the local coffee shop with a successful businessman who retired got elected to the local town council. Really good guy. Very intelligent, exactly who should be on the council.

After one term, he did not run again. Said these people are more interested in process than progress.
We have a discussion, then decide to table it to the next meeting for further discussion, rinse and repeat.
Lots of talk, very little action.

I hope your experience is better.

A friend is running for town council in the next election and asked me to run on his ticket but I am not a registered party member and I have no interest in telling people what they want to hear rather than what I think is right so I have no future in politics.

I’m currently running a youth sports program which is more political than I expected but I do it as an unelected volunteer who filled a vacuum. If people don’t like what I have to say I let them know that I welcome the opportunity to step aside and let someone else do it. I have no takers yet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I did a lot of work with politicians when I was appointed the Executive Director of the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission, tasked with overseeing city elections against fraud and policing city officials for various misdeeds. We got involved with mob infiltration of an election, opposed the Socialist Worker's Party when they asked us to mask identities of their members when they contributed, and had to deal with some wayward judges who went to Hawaii for a 3-day judges conference and then forgot to attend any of the sessions.

One council member, unhappy that I had filed charges against him for a conflict of interest, called me "the most powerful--yet unelected--politician in Seattle." The Socialists claimed I was an "arch conservative former Boeing executive," which some here may find amusing. The job was basically a non-stop hoot, and is one job I wish I'd never left. Left when I was offered a 600% percent pay bump to go back to corporate life. Big mistake.

Saw enough of politicians and their antics to never want to be one myself, but the process was interesting.

Many people forget that Washington State used to be run by Republicans. I grew up around it and graduated high school with the youngest son of former Governor and Senator Dan Evans who is still kicking ass at 93. I served as a page in the legislature in high school. Several of my friends were kids of elected officials including supreme court justices at the state level. I could see getting involved if things were closer to the 60's and 70's when politics was still a gentleman's sport. Not so much today.

You are a success as a civic leader, that takes a special commitment - and a lot of patience. If you think your community needs you to do more, go for it.

My closest experience is 10 years on the board of directors of our credit union and a horrible year as president of the Chamber of Commerce. As a business owner I am used to making decisions and implementing them.

The Board gig was pretty much like running a business.

Our Chamber of Commerce is composed of volunteers with agendas for spending other people's money. I was dealing with a lot of people with "great" ideas and no clue how to implement any of them. By the time those (like you) with experience dealt with the nuts and bolts of implementing anything, the idea geniuses were off on another tangent. It was a year of frustration and an education in why government is so expensive and so inefficient.

John, you are the kind of person this country needs in office.

Lots of them on this board. Almost none of them have a snowball's chance....were they even willing. DC ain't got nuthin' on Raleigh or my local levels imo....nada :(.

There are plenty of morons making bad decisions in the private sector too. That’s certainly not limited to politics. A matter of what your aspirations are vs the scope of the office and it’s demands. Like any career change, evaluate carefully, make a decision and proceed with gusto.

^^^^ Yep...

I've had dinner with John on many occasions so that experience contributed to my post. Just as importantly, you only need to read John's posts over the last 10+ years on serious, substantive issues to know that he is the right kind of person to hold office.

Of the group that has posted here continuously for years, there are probably less than 5 others I would want to see hold public office.

One of my best friends lives in Raleigh, he always wants me to move down. NC state politics as a whole keeps me from even considering it. There are some great restaurants in Raleigh though.

There's no one I pay attention to more on PPOT than John's posts and opinions....I wuz sold years ago ;).

Lots of 'em here like that too imo....

They aren't in PARF though...me either...hmmm?